With largemouth bass taking the place of speckled trout alongside the redfish around Lafitte, it’s no wonder these “green trout” are replacing speckled trout in coolers and on cleaning tables.
Sure, the limit for bass isn’t nearly as liberal as speckled trout, but what a limit may lack in number it more than likely will make up in size.
And to make sure he has something to show for his efforts, Capt. Jason Shilling with New Orleans Style Fishing Charters has taken to bass fishing during more of his pleasure trips when he isn’t guiding anglers to limits of redfish.
“Mainly what I look for is clear water,” Shilling began. “When they’re spawning and making their beds, they can see baits coming by them better in clear water, and they’ll move out farther off those beds to attack whatever they think is invading their nests.”
While he expects most bass to be off the beds by April, Shilling said that won’t do anything to slow down the action. As a matter of fact, bass fishing may actually be even better this month due to the influx of pogie and shad schools.
“When you see that bait start to scatter on top of the water, you can catch bass,” Shilling said. “What I like to do then is run a white spinnerbait of any sort and size through that surface action. I guess bass are trying to feed back up after the spawn, so they start attacking all that bait.”
Grass also plays an important factor in finding April bass around Lafitte. Shilling likes to fish around coontail in Cataouatche and the north end of Lake Salvador because it doesn’t come all the way to the top of the water, and it lets through a lot of light, unlike lily pads.
“And you can also catch bass around the islands between Bayou Perot and Bayou Rigolets,” Shilling said. “I’ve caught plenty of bass there this year already because of all the fresh water that comes through there. There’s so much fresh water that they had to build concrete walls on the west side of Perot and the east side of Rigolets because all that water was eroding the land.”
Shilling also pointed out that bass anglers shouldn’t overlook The Pen. By May, there will be a carpet of coontail with boat trails going all through it. Look for openings inside of the grass where bass will lie just inside the edge waiting to eat anything that comes by.
